


Rin's Sweater

by JemTheKingOfSass



Category: Free!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Drabble, Fluff, Haru being Haru, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 20:20:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13666575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JemTheKingOfSass/pseuds/JemTheKingOfSass
Summary: Rin is freezing cold all winter and wears wool sweaters that he’s allergic to, just to keep himself warm. Haruka is tired of Rin’s discomfort and decides to take matters into his own hands.





	Rin's Sweater

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aenya](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aenya/gifts).



> I don’t actually know anything about knitting. I blame Discord and trying to avoid my life for this drabble.
> 
> The inspiration: Aenya's hc is that Haru discovers Rin has more sensitive skin than he thought, so Haru knits him sweaters out of synthetic/non-wool fibers so Rin can wear something that doesn't irritate his skin.
> 
>  

 

**

 

A loud crash, followed by a mumbled string of barely audible curse words hit Haru’s ears, as soon as he set foot in the apartment he shared with Rin. Despite knowing his boyfriend’s inherent clumsiness and penchant for swearing, he quickly stripped off his coat and hat, set down his shopping bags, and hurried to where the sound was coming from. The dull roar of the hair dryer was added to the mild cacophony as he neared the bathroom. Haru pushed open the door.

 

Crimson eyes snapped over to azure ones in the reflection, as Haru assessed the situation, or lack thereof. He saw his partner with a towel slung around his waist, still dripping water down his back, because Rin rushed through life so fast he never even took the time to dry his entire body thoroughly. In his hand, the redhead held a hair dryer, which he used to get his tresses to a more manageable state of dampness. 

 

“ _Okaeri_ ,” Rin spoke loudly to mirror Haru, running fingers through tousled hair. He shut off the hair dryer and lowered his voice to his normal, yet still too high in volume, tone. “Did you get what you needed from the store?”

 

“ _Tadaima_. Yes, I did,” murmured Haru, gaze roving over Rin’s skin. It looked flushed and mottled pink all over his torso, crawling up into a necklace of a rash around his throat. Haru noticed Rin’s feet and ankles were in the same state as his upper half. 

 

Rin stared at Haru’s exceedingly obvious perusal of his mostly naked form. He smirked. “Eh, Haru? Like what you see?”

 

A small crease appeared between Haru’s eyebrows and his mouth turned down slightly, still gazing at the redhead’s body. Rin’s eyes widened in disappointment at the negative reaction, as he let out a sigh.

 

“It’s still bad, I know. It’s getting worse, Haru,” Rin huffed out, clearly working himself up into an embarrassed state. He crossed his arms over his chest, as if that motion would deter his boyfriend.

 

Haru turned on his heel and left the bathroom, leaving Rin behind frowning after him. He returned with his shopping bags in his hand, and moved towards Rin, to unlock his arms from where they were still tightly curled around his splotchy body. “Is it uncomfortable? I never see you scratching.”

 

“It’s pretty itchy and it’s really hot most of the time. It’s annoying but not unbearable,” Rin admitted, looking fixedly off to the side, as though the plumbing was suddenly the most interesting thing he could possibly think about at that moment.

 

Haru raised his eyebrows. “You said it’s getting worse,” he murmured, concern lacing his tone. He ran his hand softly along Rin’s pectoral muscles, down his abdomen, and up his sides. He moved behind Rin to graze his fingers against toned back muscles, tensing under the scrutiny. “And it feels very hot to the touch. I bought some oil to try-”

 

“Haru, stop. It’s fine,” Rin blurted out self-consciously, stepping away from assessing fingers.

 

“Maybe it’s time to see a dermatologist,” Haru stated. “You’ve tried all sorts of creams and salves and nothing is working. Some of them seem to agitate your skin even more.”

 

Rin let out an unattractive snort and shook his head, as he strode from the bathroom and headed towards their bedroom. He purposefully walked over to the closet to start grabbing at clothes. Haru was hot on his heels, shopping bags forgotten again, and watched him rifle through his vast assortment of cold-weather clothing. Haru knew Rin hated being cold, loathed Japanese winters, and was always chilled for months out of the year. He was also aware that Rin was quite vain, and spent far too long assembling outfits and wearing items that were not as practical as they were attractive. Rin’s only concession to reason was when the temperatures severely dropped, and he could not warm up outside of boiling showers or taking up permanent residence at their _kotatsu_. He practically lived in bulky sweaters for weeks on end. 

 

Rin was frantically tugging on jeans, yanking on a tank top, and pulling a thick woolen sweater over it. He sat down on the corner of the bed to put on socks as ugly and warm as the sweater above them. Rin let out a shiver, as he unconsciously dug at a spot underneath his collar, and looked up at Haru. “What is it, Haru? I don’t have time to see a doctor, it’s not a big deal. I just need to get to April, so I can finally thaw for the season.”

 

Haru threw up his hands in surrender. “Fine, Rin. I won’t worry about it. It’s your skin, it’s your concern.” He tried to sound as nonchalant as he could, like he did not spend far too many minutes thinking about helping Rin with whatever problems arose in his life, regardless of how benign they were deemed by Rin himself. “But maybe you should start actually drying your back after you bathe.”

 

**

 

Haru listened carefully to the noises next to him. He heard a steady, soft breathing, indicating Rin had finally fallen asleep deeply enough for him to not be disturbed by a body slipping out of the bed. 

 

Haru tiptoed across their bedroom, retrieved his shopping bags from the bathroom where they had been forgotten about all night, and crept into the living room. He clicked on a light and sat down on the couch, pulling a long, flat basket out from underneath the sofa. He grabbed his knitting needles and ignored the large assortment of yarns that they had been nestled amongst. Those were yarns from previous projects, mostly things for Ran’s vast figurine collection. Instead, he opened the bags to pull out his booty from his earlier shopping trip.

 

Haru felt the balls of yarn, ran his fingers over the lushness of the weave, lost in his thoughts. He was tired of seeing Rin under any level of duress, wanted him to be warm without sacrificing the basic comfort of skin that behaved itself. Selfishly, Haru wanted his body-confident lover to not disappear for an entire season, during which Haru wanted nothing more than to be thoroughly warmed up by Rin’s explosive heat. 

 

Haru had extensively researched what kinds of materials were the friendliest towards sensitive skin, before going to the craft store earlier in the day armed with his new information. He learned that the lanolin in wool was the likely culprit and was what to avoid. He discovered alpaca yarns were hypoallergenic, but still had scales, which posed another problem. He found that llama yarn was the softest thing he had ever felt in his entire life, but had the same issues as alpaca. However, he found what he really needed was something not comprised of animal hair, and was directed to a cellulose fiber made entirely out of sugarcane, which was apparently quite insulating and completely lanolin and scale free. 

 

In his hands, Haru had the most exquisite and soft skeins of yarn, in colors that he was confident Rin would appreciate for their aesthetic value as well as their warmth. He contemplated where to begin. He grabbed the black and got started, laying aside the other colors for the moment. Haru breathed deeply and let his mind go relatively blank as he got into the rhythmic motion of knitting, soothed by the calming tempo and the knowledge that he could help alleviate Rin’s discomfort. Haruka thanked every deity he believed in that his grandmother had taught him this skill before she passed. He never thought it would be something as useful to know as it was proving to be today.

 

**

 

Night after night for close to a month, Haru sacrificed a few hours of sleep to work on his secret project. There was even a weekend Rin had gone to Kyoto to visit Gou, and he had been able to crank out one whole sleeve in two days, which was a relief. Haru was pleased with his mission, but feeling exhausted and ready to be finished.

 

Rin was none the wiser, although his skin was steadily getting worse as winter dragged on, brutally colder than other years. Haru had taken to rubbing him down after bathing and slathering his body with calendula oil, to lock in some moisture and stave off the worst of the itching. He had tried putting an ice pack on one of the worst patches of inflammation on Rin’s lower back. He had not warned his partner he was going to do it, and if the resulting elbow in his stomach was any indication, his attempt at soothing the burn associated with Rin’s rash was completely unappreciated. 

 

As luck would have it, because Fate liked to gently play with Haruka and Rin, the night Haru was going to complete his final purl stitch, Rin awoke during his private midnight knitting session. 

 

Haru’s ears perked up as he heard heavy footfalls approaching the living room. He looked over and saw Rin blearily squinting and scratching the back of his head. 

 

“Haru? Whatcha doing out here?” Rin rumbled, his voice sounding especially low and gravelly.

 

Haru felt that voice deep in his groin, as it had been a long, frigid, solitary winter so far. He looked over and motioned Rin to come join him on the couch, where Rin promptly curled up with his feet tucked underneath him, and rested his head on Haru’s shoulder. 

 

Haru fondly looked over at Rin, and tilted his head to rest his cheek on the mop of tangled burgundy hair. “Don’t fall asleep there. Since you’re awake, let’s make sure this fits while I might possibly be able to adjust something.”

 

“Hmm? Make sure what fits?” Rin was still a little disoriented at being conscious at that time of night. He lifted his head and looked over to what Haru was working on. “Is that a shark?”

 

Haru smiled shyly and turned to Rin. “This is for you to wear instead of all those other sweaters you’ve got. If it works, I can make you more.”

 

“You made this? I thought you only dabbled around in knitting for Makoto’s sister,” Rin looked in awe of this newly discovered talent. “Y-you made me a sweater? Haru, when?”

 

Haru shrugged. “After you fell asleep every night.”

 

“Every night! I thought you seemed a little more tired than usual, but I just assumed it was training or something,” Rin looked abashed as he gazed at Haru. “Why didn’t you just do it during the day, idiot?”

 

Haru felt being called names was mildly unfair, but chalked it up to his fatigue. “I wanted to surprise you. And you’re the one who wears clothes that you’re allergic to just to keep warm, so you shouldn’t call _me_ an idiot.”

 

Rin, appearing contrite, beamed his goofy, toothy grin and reached out his hands. “You’re amazing, Haru. So, umm, can I try it on?”

 

“Here,” Haru stood up, grasped Rin’s hands, and pulled him up too. “Let me help you get it over your head. It’s not quite done, I still have to bind it off, so you have to be gentle with it. I’ve only tried it on myself so far but I left some extra room in the shoulders and made it a little long.”

 

Rin gently pushed his arms through the sleeves and pulled the rest of the fabric down his torso. Haru watched him, blue eyes shining with joy as he saw his labor of love come to fruition. Rin had always looked good in these colors, whether at Samezuka Academy years ago or a part of Team Japan nowadays. The pitch black grew upwards until it turned into a deep, rich red that spilled across Rin’s chest and down his arms, the onyx hue only returning to encircle Rin’s neck and wrists. Splashed across his left breast was a grey shark, gliding through a gold ring. 

 

“It’s perfect, Haru. Thank you,” Rin breathed out, eyes suspiciously glistening with moisture.

 

Haru felt relieved and happy and _so tired_ as he sat back down on the couch. He let his head drop back to rest against the cushions. “How does it feel? That’s the important part.”

 

Rin plopped down next to him. “It feels like being wrapped in _sakura_ petals and affection.”

 

"It's made out of sugarcane," Haru mumbled.

 

Rin gave a short laugh through his nose. "Sounds like the kind of sugar I can appreciate." 

 

Haru looked over to see carmine eyes crinkled with mirth. “I love you, Rin,” he whispered, rapidly losing his battle with his heavy eyelids. 

 

“I know you do, Haru. I love you, too,” Rin said as he planted a kiss on Haru’s forehead. 

 

Haru felt hands scoop him up and carry him towards the bedroom. Rin placed him on their bed and lifted the covers up to Haru’s chin. Haru felt the bed dip, as his partner's body slid in next to him. He was just about to drift off, when an image of unraveling yarn and weeks worth of wasted nights popped into his head. He was about to say something about removing it carefully, when he felt warm, sweater-less skin press up against his back and a strong arm wrap around his waist. Haru felt Rin’s forehead rest on the back of his neck. 

 

As Haruka succumbed to sleep he had two final thoughts. He knew that when it came to Rin, every stitch would always be worth it. And maybe next time he’d knit him a Loosey-kun sweater.

 

**

 

**Author's Note:**

> Sugarcane yarn exists. It's called _Sugar Rush_. Who knew?


End file.
